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E.N.G.
E.N.G. is a Canadian television drama, starring Sara Botsford, Art Hindle and Mark Humphrey. The show focused on the work and personal lives of the staff of a fictional Toronto television news station (the initials stand for electronic news-gathering). The show aired on CTV from 1989 to 1994. The series ran for 96 episodes, produced by the Alliance Entertainment Corporation. The series ran in the United States for two years on the cable network, Lifetime. PLOT Anne Hildebrandt (Botsford) was the senior executive producer of the evening news broadcasts on CTLS channel 10, a fictional television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (the area, as in real-life, was commonly called Metro Toronto or simply, Metro, until the 1998 Amalgamation act which created the current City of Toronto). Anne was bright, assertive, experienced and rather capable at her job. She was, however, also having a clandestine affair with the star cameraman of the news, Jake Antonelli (Humphrey), who was much younger than she was. Jake was married and later divorced from his wife Martha, and they had two children; his son, Jeff, who lived with him, and his daughter, Connie, who lived with Martha. Into Anne's orderly world came Mike Fennell (Hindle), the station's newly appointed News director (Anne had been expecting to be promoted to News Director but was passed over in favor of Mike), who was interested in bringing up the lackluster ratings of the station and its newscasts and whose coverage philosophy was in obvious conflict with hers. Despite their differences, Anne and Mike worked rather well together and they always had the station's and their staff's best interests in mind. Later on, besides being professional, they later became romantically involved, creating awkwardness, as Anne was very independent and didn't want Mike being protective towards her. Mike, on the other hand, also had his own share of issues. He had a troubled teenage daughter from his previous marriage named Carrie who ran away from Vancouver (where Mike's ex-wife lived) to Toronto to be with him. Other members of the CTLS staff included Jane Oliver, the station's weather caster, and Seth Miller (who was worried about being pushed into retirement due to his age), who were the main anchors of the nightly newscasts; Kyle Copeland, the station's troublemaking general manager who clashed with Anne and Mike over news department issues and pretty much everything else; Bobbi Katz, another camera person who worked alongside Jake; J.C. Callahan, the station's assignment editor, who was alcoholic, cranky and was, later in the series run, also injured in an accident, which left him wheelchair-bound; Marge Atherton, the station's long-time video editor, who was very motherly and was also the go-to person for solid advice about work and personal lives and a compassionate shoulder to lean on; Dan Watson, a senior reporter who was smarmy, prone to be wrong, and occasionally would put his foot in his mouth. Janice Roberts, a news researcher, who began working for channel 10 the same day Mike did. Janice would later commit suicide after getting too emotionally involved in an immigrant success story that turned out to be about immigrants being sent back to their country where they faced certain death. Bruce Foreman, a very devious and scheming assistant assignment editor who wanted J.C.'s job and would stoop to any means to get it; Eric "Mac" MacFarlane (who was openly gay), the newscast's floor manager; and Terri Morgan, a nasty and scheming reporter, who tended to be very cut-throat towards her own colleagues and rivals alike. Actor Victor Garber had a recurring role as ruthless tycoon Adam Hirsch, who owned CTLS during the series final three seasons. At the end of the series, Anne and Mike were trying to balance their personal and professional lives, when it was revealed that CTLS was now going from a hard news format to a lifestyles format (presumably to help boost the station's flagging ratings). Also, Jake and Anne had finally realized that their affair was not working out and they broke up. (Jake, however, never went back to Martha, but they remained friendly towards one another, because of their children.) Mike received a new job offer in Japan, and invited Anne to go with him. Anne thought about this very hard (she would not be permitted to work, however, due to Japanese law) and, after making peace with Jake, who urged her to have a life with Mike, she decides to accept his offer. However in the last episode titled "The Cutting Edge" Clarke Roberts (the late Janice's brother) convinces Anne to get back in the trenches, and help him with a hard news story. She agrees to do so, finding out that she loves the excitement of pursuing the story and the adventure of working in hard news. She is offered a job at another news station in Toronto, (a station similar in style to the real-life CNN), by the station owner Maxwell Harding (Simon MacCorkindale). After talking to Mike, they decide they want different things. Mike goes to Japan to begin his new job, while Anne is last seen standing outside the building where her new job, as station manager, will begin. Cast *Anne Hildebrandt — Sara Botsford *Jake Antonelli — Mark Humphrey *Martha Antonelli - Maria del Mar *Mike Fennell — Art Hindle *Carrie Fennell - Amber Lea Weston *Eric MacFarlane — Jonathan Welsh *J.C. Callahan — Neil Dainard *Dan Watson — Karl Pruner *Terri Morgan — Cynthia Belliveau *Seth Miller — James Millington *Bobbi Katz — Mary Beth Rubens *Kyle Copeland — George R. Robertson *Jane Oliver — Sherry Miller *Marge Atherton — Theresa Tova *Clarke Roberts — Clark Johnson *Janice Roberts — Rachael Crawford *Kelly Longstreet — Lisa LaCroix *Adam Hirsch — Victor Garber *Maxwell Harding - Simon MacCorkindale Alumni and a touch of real-life in E.N.G. Many of the show's actors were well-established in Canada and several were familiar names. Art Hindle; Victor Garber and Simon MacCorkindale among others. Actress Sherry Miller (Jane Oliver) was a real-life former news anchor on the Global Television Network in Canada from 1986 to 1988. A year after she left Global, she was tapped to join the cast of E.N.G. and she brought her real-life experience as a newscaster to the show. Clark Johnson (Clarke Roberts) would later achieve fame as Baltimore homicide Detective Meldrick Lewis on the NBC police procedural series, Homicide: Life on the Streets, a role he began while finishing up this series. Category:Prime time soaps